NOTES AND QUERIES.
[11 S. V. JAN. 20, 1912.
CAPT. SIR ROBERT RICHARDSON, Royal
Artillery, 7th Baronet, of Pencaitland, Nova
Scotia, died in 1752. Wanted, the date
and place of death, to complete regimental
records. J. H. LESLIE, Major.
31, Kenwood Park Road, Sheffield.
ST. CUTHBERT : HIS BIRDS. Reginald of Durham, after a long account, probably based on personal observation, of St. Cuth- bert's ducks on Farne Island, says in chap, xxvii. :
" Aves illse Beati Cuthberti specialiter nominan- tur ; ab Anglis yero Lomes vocantur ; ab Saxoni- bus autem et qui Frisiam incolunt Eires dicuntur.
Can these terms be explained ? Were they called Lomes, or lambs, from their gentleness and tameness ? Is Eires con- nected with eider ? J. T. F.
Durham.
" VICUGNA " AND ' THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNIC A.' I was greatly surprised in looking for a description of that South Ameri- can animal the vicuna, in the last edition of ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica,' to find this word spelt vicugna. As is well known to those who have studied the Spanish language, the n is never preceded nor followed by a consonant. The sound of n is very like the sound of gn in Italian, and possibly absolutely the same. The nearest approach to the sound in English is the com- bination of letters nio in opinion (as when the n is followed by an o in Senor). In Italian we have the same sound in Signor, ogni, &c. Having been born in Chile, the native soil of the vicuna, and having seen the word correctly written in Spanish all my life, I find the combination of g and n shocking to the eye, and I question if it is correct. It is neither Spanish nor Italian, and surely it is not English.
It would be interesting to know on what ground the combination of g and n can be defended.
E. HAVILAND HILLMAN, F.S.G.
SPENSER CONCORDANCE. In ' N". & Q.' for 17 Feb., 1872 (4 S. ix. 151), is a paragraph on Correctors for the Press. At the end of it is mentioned a Concordance to the Poems of Spenser which at that time had been three years in preparation by some proof-reader, and which would be ready for publication in about a year from the date of that number. Can you give me any information concerning the author, the manuscript, or the subsequent history of this work ? Evidently it was never published.
I am particularly interested because I
have been editing a Concordance to Spenser
which is now more than half finished.
CHARLES G. OSGOOD.
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
[Through the kindness of a friend, we have been put in communication with the compiler of the Con- cordance referred to. We regret to say that he informs us that he had to abandon the task many years ago, when it \vas less than half finished, and has no intention of resuming it. The uncompleted MS. has been destroyed.]
GASTON LAFENESTRE. Are the works of this artist of the Barbizon School known to connoisseurs ? R. L. Stevenson men- tions him in terms of affection in his book ' An Inland Voyage.' I shall be grateful to any reader who can refer me to any other record of him or his works. H. S.
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM : AUTOBIO- GRAPHICAL MSS. At the end of the ' Auto- biography of James Silk Buckingham,' pub- lished in 1855, a few months before his death on 30 June of that year, the author says :
"My subsequent career .... will form the subject of the future volumes to follow this (Vol. II.) before the close of the present year."
I am anxious to know if Buckingham left any material in MS. for these proposed other volumes ; and, if so, where such MS. may now be found.
J. HAMBLEY ROWE, M.B.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND PARADISE. Can any one help me to trace a legend which represents Alexander the Great standing outside the gates of Paradise, and holding a colloquy with the guardian of the gates ?
PERI.
WEATHER-BOARDED HOUSES IN THE CITY OH LONDON. In Carlyle Avenue, which connects Fenchurch Street with Jewry Street, stands a picturesque gabled and weather-boarded house. If it is not the last now standing within the City boundary, will any reader kindly notify the sites there of other such houses ? H. S.
" WITH ALLOWANCE." I have a tract with the following title :
" News | from | The Jews, | Or a True | Rela- tion | Of A | Great Prophet, | In the Southern parts of Tartaria ; | .... Faithfully translated into English, | By Joscphus Philo-Judasus, Gent. I With Allowance. | London, Printed for A. G. Anno Domini, 1071." 4 to. 6pp.
What is the meaning of " With Allowance " ? ISRAEL SOLOMONS.
